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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Did you hear about a group of four foreign travelers who recently posed naked for photos on the top of Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia and who were subsequently arrested, jailed and fined for committing an obscene act? If you haven't, then check out this article or google it. Such incidents with travelers visiting sacred sites or foreign places seem to have become the ever-increasing norm. I recall a recent CNN article published in March of this year titled "Global laws you may not have realized you were breaking" that highlights how easy it is to run afoul of local laws when traveling abroad. Sri Lanka is on their checklist as being strict when it comes to respecting the Buddhist religion. This had me thinking about some of the recent incidents closer to home and the lack of awareness of what's taboo (or more importantly, illegal) in Sri Lanka.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't had a brush with this fatal infectious disease other than responding to a recent email from a traveler seeking some information regarding treatment for rabies in Sri Lanka. So it was a bit of a shock to find myself sat in the emergency room at the hospital late one evening after my friend was attacked by a stray cat. And then the next day, to have accompanied my friend to the Anti-Rabies Vaccination Unit at Kalubowila Teaching Hospital ("KTH") while he discussed the attack, the possibility of cutting off the cat's head and bringing it to the hospital (if it died), and then administered the injections for anti-rabies post exposure treatment

According to the World Health Organization ("WHO"), around 60,000
people die from rabies each year, and around 95% of those cases occur in
African and Asian countries. Sri Lanka is still classed as high risk
although it has reportedly cut rabies deaths by more than 90% in the
past 40 years through an intensive anti-rabies campaign and increased
awareness program. Some countries still advise their citizens to get the anti-rabies vaccination before departing for Sri Lanka for a long stint, or planning to work with animals while visiting the country, or if they are planning adventure travels that increase the risk of exposure to animals.

Did you know that still around 20 to 30 deaths occur in Sri Lanka annually due to rabies? And these deaths in Sri Lanka are mainly caused by exposure to infected dogs. A recent estimate of the total dog population in Sri Lanka is something
like three million dogs with the roaming or stray population accounting
for 30% of this total (though I think this estimate of roaming dogs is
actually higher!). For those of us living or traveling in Sri Lanka my
question is, are we situated within a literal death trap given the numbers of roaming or stray dogs (and cats) throughout the island?
Notwithstanding, there's also owned dogs and cats that may not have
been vaccinated against rabies. However, I hasten to add the chances of a
stray dog or cat biting or scratching you is low unless you actually
engage or pester the animals.